Shelton Benjamin Recalls Ernie Ladd Wanting Him To Portray Stereotypical Black Wrestler, Benjamin Called Eddie Guerrero To Help Decide If He Should Lean Into It Or Not

An Eddie Guerrero story from Shelton Benjamin.

A new episode of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze was released, and guest appearing on the show was Shelton Benjamin.

The Hurt Syndicate member dove into his life and getting into the wrestling business. He recalled the time when WWE brought in Hall of Famer ‘The Big Cat’ Ernie Ladd to be a coach of sorts to him. Benjamin said Ladd wanted him to portray a stereotypical depiction of a Black wrestler.

Benjamin said he reached out to Eddie Guerrero for guidance on how to navigate the situation. Benjamin also spoke to then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, and McMahon gave the same advice Guerrero did.

Benjamin: “At one point — and I think I might have been the I.C. Champ — my first run — and WWE, they brought in Ernie Ladd to kind of give me some coaching… He kind of came at me at an angle that no one had approached me with before… He wanted me to be a Black superstar. ‘You gotta have a Black offense. You gotta use a headbutt, you gotta shake that big, black ass.’”

MVP: “Sadly, the stuff, the dated stuff from his time…”

Benjamin: “This is really confusing me… In my head, I’m like, I don’t wanna be the stereotypical Black athlete. I’m like, he’s trying to turn me into J.Y.D. 2000, and I remember I called Eddie (Guerrero), and I kind of explained the situation to him, and I was like, ‘This confused me. Should I be playing into a Black stereotype like he’s kind of coaching me to do?’ And Eddie said, ‘Look, I’m Mexican. There are things that — of my culture — I incorporate into my work, and I’m proud of my heritage. But I’m also a superstar. I’m not a Mexican superstar. I’m a superstar that happens to be Mexican,’ and he’s like, ‘That’s for you to decide,’ and I was kind of like, ‘Okay. That makes a lot more sense to me,’ and I had a talk with Vince (McMahon) too, and Vince kind of echoed exactly what Eddie said. ‘No, no, no. You’re not a Black superstar. You’re a superstar that happens to be Black,’ and that’s why I avoided the stereotypical rappers and things like that, or the thugs, whatever.”

Benjamin is signed to All Elite Wrestling and is a member of The Hurt Syndicate with Bobby Lashley and MVP. Benjamin and Lashley were last in action on the April 25th episode of Collision.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.